ORANJESTAD 'Access Art Gallery is launching an exciting new exhibition by popular regional artist Grace Ashruf, titled New Horizons. The exhibition will begin on January 18th at Access Art Gallery on the Main street at 08.00 PM and will be on display through February 20th.
Living on the island of Aruba, Grace's home sits adjacent to a salinja (water Basin)surrounded by open fields and expansive skies. These scenes of natural beauty that greet Grace every day have played a major role in inspiring this latest collection. The light of the horizon is reflected within each painting, creating a depth and a three dimensional effect visible even in her abstracts. Grace's vibrant interpretation of her New Horizons series shows her great love of color, which in itself reflects a sense of warmth to lift the spirits, the heart, and touch the soul of the viewer.
'To me, horizons represent light and strength. The horizon symbolizes future and hope, which inspires me to embrace the unknown in a positive way, even on a 'down' day. Horizons can be dark, but I'll always look for the bright spots. Most horizons are vibrant and full of color, which I express in my paintings. Look for New Horizons: 'Piece by Piece,' 'Peace by Peace,' 'Step by Step,' and 'Space by Space,' and remember 'life is not a race,' reflects Grace.
This collection of Grace's contemporary artwork is deeply rooted in observations of nature, but evolves in surprising directions through the process of painting. Some of the paintings in this collection have amazing texture and color. The techniques used by the artist include layering of paint, which adds texture and various color gradients in beautiful patterns. The world Grace has created in her semi-abstract works includes fascinating depths and textures evoking thoughts of nature and unexplored worlds. It is truly original work that captivates her audience. Earth, skies, and flowing water are all embodied in her new works. 'I have a special connection to each and every painting I create, and each painting has a special meaning to me,' shares the artist.
Grace enjoys working in mixed media, utilizing different textures and collage, and adding color to create exciting effects; she is always on the lookout for new ideas. 'Exploration, passion, drama, movement…if any words describe my art, I think these would be the ones,' exclaims Grace. 'I love to explore the variety of ways in which paint can be applied; not only with brushes, but with a variety of tools…I am always searching for that next object that will make an interesting mark on the canvas. And I love layers 'layers of color, layers of texture, and layers of collaged paper,' she adds
With this collection, Grace allowed herself to create with total freedom. 'I just want to create with wild abandon, with no preconceived ideas about what should be. While looking for a landscape, a still-life, or even an abstraction of a common subject, I searched for the effects that will appear in the layering. I usually start by picking a color' just one color, nothing more. From there each layer tells me what color to use next, and what tool I might try making marks with until I have found what I am looking for, ' she explains.
'I want people to feel like they have to explore my work, to look not only at the entire picture, but to look at each component, to study the varieties of colors, textures, and the complexity of the design,' she concludes.
ABOUT THE ARTISTGrace Ashruf began her formal art education at the Nola Hatterman Institute in Suriname. She further developed her skills for two years in Guatemala at Tuscany Art School, Monet Art School, and also at the Rafael Landivar University, where she had the opportunity to study with revered Guatemalan artists.
During her three-year stay in Curaçao, Grace attended the Academi di Arti and the Classic Caribbean Art School. During this time she also worked on pottery at 'Arawak' and ceramics at Jane's Ceramic Art School.
Grace has made her home on Aruba for more than seven years now, and looks forward to further evolving her style and talents with the influence of the island's beauty and people.
Grace participated in several group exhibitions in Guatemala and Curacao. The New Horizons exhibition at Access Art Gallery is Grace's third solo project on Aruba.
Other Solo Exhibitions:2005
Solo Exposition, cas Di Cultura, 'E Caribe: Silencio I Biento'
2003
Solo Exposition, RBTT Bank, Aruba
Other artist on exhibit at the main Access Art gallery and the Access Annex gallery are Belinda De Veer, Timothy Charles ,Jean Girigori, Elisa Le Juez, Adolfo Valbuena, Alfonso De Windt, Gustave Nouel, Eefje Van Der Straten, Mo Mohamed, Ad Rekkers and Gerda van Leeuwen.
Access Gallery and Access Annex are located in Caya G.F. Betico Croes (mainstreet) in Oranjestad and will be open from 10:00am to 8:00 pm from Monday to Saturday.
For more information please call Access Art at tel:5887837 or 5887379
